Recent Gun Mounted Drone Attack in Myanmar? Find out the fact…

A video claiming to be a successful gun mounted drone, shooting test carried out in Myanmar has been widely been shared on Facebook sparking misunderstandings among social media users.

The video shows gun-mounted on a drone firing back and forth automatically in the woods, and many commentators praised it as the success of People Defense Force (PDF) in Myanmar. However, the video is an old video from the USA.

Social Media Claims:

A Facebook user under the name “Kõ Ĝýî”, posted the video with a caption in Burmese claiming (fair translation) “Drone test fired successfully. The Mother’s (referring to Aung San Suu Kyi) hard–working sons”. The post received over 700 shares within a few hours of posting and video views exceeding twenty seven thousand. Similar posts can be found here, here, here and here.

Original Link – Fb link | Archive link

The video also got shares in English language users claiming the same. A Facebook page posting satirical content called “Bootleg Gunz: The Bazaar of Bizarre Guns” also published the above video claiming that this gun-mounted drone is tested in Myanmar, and received mixed reactions.

Original Link – Fb link | Archive link

Fact Check

Some Facebook users suggested the video might be old, and not related to Myanmar.  A keyword search on YouTube revealed that the video with the same scenes was reported by CNN news in 2015.

On July 22, 2015, CNN posted the video on their official YouTube Channel titled “Teen’s gun-firing drone triggers federal probe”.

“This is the video that caught Federal investigators attention. Police say 18 years old Austin Haughwout, a Clinton Connecticut, is the mastermind behind this home–made gun–mounted drone.” is read by a CNN newscaster and the full news related to the incident is seen below.

Original link: CNN  | Archive link

The same was also reported by Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and ABC news.

Below is a comparison of screenshots from the video in the 2015 CNN report and the video which claimed to be drone tested by PDFs in Myanmar.

We have debunked several other videos and images claiming to be instances of using drones in clashes between Myanmar military and rebel groups as well over the past few months.

Conclusion

According to our investigation, the video is of a gun mounted drone attack claiming to be recent scenes from Myanmar, actually was taken from a 2015 footage made by a teenager in the United States.